Pintura los peces - painting fish at the big fiesta

Thursday, October 15, 2015

The weather may have been cool and grey the morning of the Mexican Independence Day celebration in Fort Bragg, but the atmosphere was anything but gloomy. Lively music played as families enjoyed delicious food and fun games, while the kids had a great time helping us to paint over 20 wooden salmon for a public art project.

The fish painting activity was part of a larger joint partnership with Mendocino Woodlands Camp Association and Fort Bragg High School. We will be beautifying the chain link fence that runs along the Hare Creek Beach Trail with a colorful, jumping school of wooden salmon. Kevin Costello and the wood shop students from Fort Bragg High School are cutting out the wooden fish for the project, and the kids at the fiesta were the first group to bring them to life. With the help of Jeanne Coleman, Loreto Rojas and Laura Finkle of Mendocino Outdoor Science School, the kids got to learn about salmon ecology while they painted their masterpieces. Other fish painting activities will be held this fall to continue the project with other partners.

Soon we will have enough colorful salmon to install along the fence, and we can’t wait for everyone to be able to enjoy this project that is truly a group effort across many community organizations.